for a ride?

I quite fancy trying one of the Welsh trail centres but it would be about 2.5/3 hours each way.

B&B or camping not an option in this instance.

I’d rather ride for an extra 3 or 4 hours and pick somewhere half an hour away or ride from my doorstep.

An hour, maybe hour and a half, after that I’d be looking to make a weekend of it.

I’d drive for three hours to get to Torridon. Three hours drive to a trail centre? nae chance!

I stay in Fife. Last weekend we drove for less than an hour north to Blair Atholl and rode up Glen Tilt and around the Bienn A Ghlo loop. 3500 feet of climbing and descending over 35 miles on bone dry trails. It’s a spectacular wilderness. We saw no one all day.

A one hour drive south would have taken us to Glentress.

10hr+ drive each way wasn’t uncommon when racing but (probably because of years of racing) I hate traveling anywhere to ride now. Some of the best mtb riding in the country is only 40mins drive away and I rarely bother now unless I can blag a lift from a friend.

It takes me about 2 hours to get to glentress/inners and thats enough to put me off doing it too often as it makes it too much faff on

Use to do the Lakes for day trips, takes around 2.5hrs to get to Ambleside from here and then we’d ride all day, pub meal then home for late evening.

Done 3 hours each way to Afan twice this year already!

Mind you, nothing closer like it…

when I lived in Durham, I drove to Glentress/ Inners and back in a day a few times; 2 hours on a good day.
once or twice a year I’ll drive to Cwm Carn from London for an uplift day.

gotta be under an hour

ive done several day trips to south wales which is 3hrs each way but cant justify the expense (petrol) nowadays. Its just about worth it for two days riding and a night out.

I’d do 2 hours if it got me to say the Quantocks, or a full day at Afan (got to be min 30 miles riding) but if there were a few to split costs etc, then I’d do it a lot more often

I once drove 4hrs each way for a 10 mile ride! To be fair, it was a forum meeting and I had a cracking day out around the Dumyat area.

8 hours driving on top of Nantyarian long, I was knackered by the time I got home and a serious health hazard to other road users by the end 😳

don’t think I’d do it again.

It takes me 25 minutes (I’m not as fit as I used to be 😥 ) to ride from here to the top of the Quantocks, only 8 minutes on the way home though 😀

Sometimes it’s worth the 3 hour train ride to Ticino. Several times I entered the tunnel on the north side of the Alps in rain, sleet and cold conditions and came out on the south side in warm sunshine.

I have to travel at least 10-15 minutes by bike up the valley to get to Afan. Only about half of that is off road too. It’s a right pain but it’s worth it 😉

When I lived in Birmingham I would think nothing of two hours each way (to Peaks or Black Mtns) twice in a weekend. Any more than two hours is pushing it; used to drive to Thetford and do the Winter Series, that was a long day with a four hour race to do!

Still have to travel to CX races – often 2 hours in the car for a 45 min race!

I used to set a 2 hour each way limit for day trips. Unfortunately this put Afan beyond day trip reach (2h 40m). Dartmoor and Brecon were still in.

I’ve subconsciously retracted to 1.5 hours now due to fuel costs and time limitations – that includes FOD, CwmCarn, Haldon, Quantocks and near Exmoor.

In fact mostly I keep it to less than 25 mins driving which still covers all of Mendip, plus Bristol trails.

Klunk – Member

8 hours driving on top of Nantyarian long, I was knackered by the time I got home and a serious health hazard to other road users by the end This is the problem IME and one I encountered in Scotland a fair bit – I’ve no problem in principle to a few hours drive if the riding merits it, but you can end up pretty tired behind the wheel on the way back. Splitting the driving makes all the difference.

tbh it was more a problem going hill-walking up from Edinburgh – drive up early doors for a long day out in the hills, then the missus reneges on the promise to drive back! Started taking the tent after that particular red-eyed trip back down the A9.

Did coed-y-Brenin on Saturday – 2.5 hrs each way. Up early, started riding about 9:30. Did a few of the loops, stayed till tea time, then home… 5 hrs driving and 8 hrs riding is acceptable occaisionally…
Bit bushed on Sunday though with the clocks changing!

It would have to be some cracking riding for me to drive somewhere to ride in a day, given that i have miles and miles of moorland on my doorstep, may not be the best stuff in the world but I can be on it in less than 5 minutes riding from my front door.

for a ride?

I quite fancy trying one of the Welsh trail centres but it would be about 2.5/3 hours each way.

B&B or camping not an option in this instance.

I drove 4 hours to Wales, rode The Wall and Whites Level, then drove home in one day.

Genuine question: are The Wall and Whites Level really worth losing 8 hours of whatever your local riding is like for?

No they are shit. I definitely wouldn’t do it again, but you don’t know till you try.

90 mins each way generally, but it has to be a good ride and ride time should always be greater than driving time.

That said I have a whole day off and to myself this Friday. I could go ride wherever I like. But I’ll probably take the chilled option and ride from home for 3 or 4 hours. Can’t be arsed to drive and pay the fuel costs. I must be getting old.

To come back the same day maybe 1.5hr, 2hrs tops, and I wouldn’t want to do that too often.
From Birmingham that puts Llandegla and (just about) the Peak in range- everything else would need to be a weekend away. As well as the petrol cost/use, I just couldn’t be doing with spending as much time in a car as riding.

EDIT That’s each way.

I drove 4 hours to Wales, rode The Wall and Whites Level, then drove home in one day.

I did exactly this a couple of weeks ago. Left home in London at 7am, on the trails by 11, set off home at 5pm, back home before 9. It’s not something I’d do often (mainly due to cost of fuel) but I really fancied some trail centre riding that wasn’t Cannock/Thetford.

2 hours upto Keswick is OK (don’t think about the petrol mind)! get the footie results on the way back and a coffee break both ways…all part of a fun day out imo.

I’ll have a look on here http://www.bogtrotters.org/rides/gallery/ if the views look good I’ll go (…and if the misses allows) 😳

fair enough – I would have had to travel through the Peak District to get to Llandegla – I think I’ll concentrate on finding new bits in the Peak which is only 1hr each way.